Category: Best Picture

Posted on 2022-08-11 | No Comments |

Drive My Car (2021)

Two years after the unexpected death of his wife, actor-director Hidetoshi Nishijima accepts an offer to direct a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya for a Hiroshima theatrical festival. Because of insurance purposes, the festival organizers require him to be driven by professional driver Toko Miura, an introverted young woman who has also experienced loss in her life. Like director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s previous film, I wasn’t sure if I was really wanting to continue with this early on, especially as the credits for this film don’t appear until after 40 minutes at point which the main story begins. That isn’t to say the earlier minutes were unnecessary fluff, it was just difficult to see where it was going. Visually gorgeous with relatable themes of relationships entwined and sharing grief, it never feels like it’s three hour run time. My biggest takeaway remains as a fascination with the idea of a multilingual performance. I’d love to see one on stage now, but it’s already incredible watching the necessary process to make such a thing work unfold.

Oscar Win: Best International Feature Film

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Directing; Best Adapted Screenplay

Posted on 2022-07-29 | No Comments |

Hope and Glory (1987)

One British family’s experiences during World War II are told through the eyes of 10 year old Sebastian Rice-Edwards. I’m generally more interested in what average people experience during wartime over the actual battles and this film delivers in that regard. Though the various members encounter almost every obstacle possible, the story still maintains a natural bent as to what an ordinary family might have witnessed while under siege. With some fantastic acting and visuals, the story maintains a sense of humor and wonder at the novelty of the experiences without dismissing the dangers and terror that existed.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Posted on 2022-07-07 | No Comments |

Doctor Dolittle (1967)

Based on three of the Hugh Lofting books, Rex Harrison is the titular doctor whose great love for animals brought him to learn how to speak various animal languages from his parrot friend. For reasons, this leads him on an expedition to find the Great Pink Sea Snail. I do love a film that respects animals as unique individuals and personalities, even when they are as fictitious as the well-crafted Pushmi-Pullyu, and Geoffrey Holder is delightful as the leader of a village of well-read island natives, but this film is way too damn long. Cut out most of the beginning and one or two of the extraneous episodes and it wouldn’t be much of a loss. The songs are mostly unmemorable with Harrison sing songing his way through the majority, even when accompanied by the film’s delightful visuals.

Posted on 2022-07-05 | No Comments |

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

A teenaged Anne Boleyn catches the eye of King Henry VII and he’s willing to sacrifice almost anything for the chance to produce an heir with her. She’s willing to forego love to rise in power and esteem, but unfortunately for her what comes around goes around, especially when you’re subjected to the whims of a capricious leader. Lavish costumes and settings provide ample period style, while Geneviève Bujold’s Anne convincingly portrays a young woman caught in the crosshairs of power and rarely unable to stare it down. Richard Burton’s Henry is filled with his own self importance and lechery, overwhelming any accomplishments in other realms.

Oscar Win: Best Costume Design

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Sound; Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical)

Posted on 2022-07-05 | No Comments |

King Solomon’s Mines (1950)

Deborah Kerr hires British safari guide Stewart Granger to lead her through the African interior to find her husband who went missing while searching for the titular diamond mines. I could do without the condescension towards Kerr as a female and forcing her into a love story, even as she proves to hold her own, but Granger is a decent guide through the gorgeous vistas. They reminded me fondly of the time I spent in Tanzania. While not given top billing, the locals appreciatively are given respect by the main characters and a chance to be featured without being horribly exoticized.

Oscar Wins: Best Cinematography, Color; Best Film Editing

Oscar Nomination: Best Picture

Posted on 2022-06-15 | No Comments |

America, America (1963)

Anatolian Greek Stathis Giallelis is entrusted with the entirety of his family’s wealth and charged with travelling to Istanbul to help in a cousin’s carpet store, but he has bigger dreams of travelling to America. An immigrant epic inspired by Elia Kazan’s own family’s immigration tale, It is a never-ending recitation of the resilience, drive, and luck required for someone to even have a chance at rising above their station and reaching for something better. The film lies on Giallelis’s shoulders and he conveys the desperation and hardship of his situation with bold determination that cannot be extinguished.

Oscar Win: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen

Posted on 2022-06-12 | No Comments |

Nashville (1975)

Nashville’s sweetheart Ronee Blakley comes to town after recovering from an alleged burn accident at the same time a cadre of individuals also descend on the city for various reasons. It’s in most ways a typical sprawling Altman ensemble film with quirky characters and a narrative that goes in many directions while also coming together at points, especially the political rally climax . More than any of his other works, it feels like it is a mirror of the United States in all its highs and lows, particularly at that particularly time period at the cusp of its 200th birthday.

Oscar Win: Best Music, Original Song

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Supporting Role (2); Best Director

Posted on 2022-06-09 | No Comments |

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

In 1933, retired schoolteacher Robert Donat falls asleep reminiscing about the last fifty plus years he served at an all-boys British public school. I generally don’t get a lot out of inspirational educator stories, but pleasantly this focuses more on Mr. Chips’s life and how he is affected by events more than being a motivational teacher. The aspects of aging Donat’s character through so many years with makeup and Donat’s own acting is quite well done. Donat’s relationship with Greer Garson is sweet and would have made a cute romance story on its own. It is clever how the same young actors were used to play generations and generations of each family, representing the constants and the changes a teacher experiences being at the same institution for years on end.

Oscar Win: Best Actor in a Leading Role

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

Posted on 2022-06-02 | No Comments |

Licorice Pizza (2021)

On school picture day, fifteen year old child actor Cooper Hoffman hits on much older photographer’s assistant Alana Haim and somehow this develops into a relationship. The plot meanders aimlessly with the teenaged Hoffman starting various businesses and still trying to get into Alana’s pants while she tags along on his adventures. Paul Thomas Anderson’s films are very hit or miss for me and this is very much a miss. Aside from the disturbing age difference in the primary relationship, the actions of the characters rarely make much sense or feel realistic in any way. It doesn’t help that the leads are rather dislikable in their own ways and more dislikable whenever they’re together.

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Directing; Best Original Screenplay

Posted on 2022-05-27 | No Comments |

Moulin Rouge (1952)

Unexpectedly this isn’t about the famous Parisian cabaret, but instead focuses on the life of one of its more famous early patrons, the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, told mainly through his relationships with women. The result is a fairly standard biopic, with its typical stretches of the truth, that is greatly improved during the few glorious scenes set in the titular club. Jose Ferrer plays the tortured artist, and his father, quite impressively, especially when noting the efforts required to portray someone of a much shorter stature. The transition montages of Toulouse’s art does at least give the viewer exposure to the prolific artist’s work.

Oscar Win: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Costume Design, Color

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Film Editing